embedding usability in your organisation
DESCRIPTION
A talk I gave at the Software East event 'User Experience in Software Development' on Thursday 3 March 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Embedding Usabilityin your organisation
Michele Ide-SmithSoftware East, 3 March 2011
“As their usability approach matures, organisations typically progress through the same sequence of stages, from initial hostility to widespread reliance on user research.”
Jakob Nielsen
A bit of background
Who are our users?
Photo by Joe Shablotnik http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/
Costs per transaction
• Face-to-face £8.23• Telephone £3.21• Website £0.39
Source: SOCITM (Society for IT Managers), 2009
Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989)
Making our web services useful and usable saves public money
We’ve come a long way…
2006 2011
Occasional usabilitysurvey
Dedicated UX ArchitectUX techniques and skills embedded
UX Maturity Model diagram from an article by @rfeijo http://johnnyholland.org/2010/04/16/planning-your-ux-strategy/
We are here
Photo by Sarah and Mike …probably http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahandmikeprobably/4266668689/
How did we get started?
A revelation can become a passion
UX techniques are not hard to pick up
But knowing when and why to use them takes experience
Start with small butperfectly formed projects
Research
Design
PrototypeEvaluate
Improve
Start small
If you have budget available and decide to use external expertise
Work collaborativelyFind a supplier who’ll work collaboratively
And help transfer skills to in-house teamsPhoto by Lollyman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollyman/4424552903
Highlighting poor design and content requires tact and diplomacy
Use familiar language e.g. ‘customer focus’, ‘customer experience’
Some stakeholders have strong opinions
Remember, data can speak volumes
Photo by mr savoury http://www.flickr.com/photos/bop/7157529/
Use data to tell a story about your users
55 % of visits from search engines9% of visits include the home page
Data sources
• Google analytics• Heat maps e.g. CrazyEgg• Customer feedback• Web transactions• Call centre • Demographic research• Usability testing• User interviews
Remember to set targets, evaluate and compare metrics!
It helps to have a UX Champion!
Photo by Dunechaser http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/3538429942/
The whole team is learning UX skills
Everyone in the team can do an expert review or walkthrough
Anyone can have design ideas
The person who created these sketches had no prior UX experience
But UX has become a full time job
When we re-structured in 2010 we created a UX Architect role
We now have dedicated UX resource, skills and a toolkit
Standardising processes and templates has helped with our UX roll out
User Experience: Method CardsUser Experience: TechniquesAuthor: Matthew Godfrey
Published: 25/10/2010
Page 1 of 19
Techniques Overview
Research
Design
Evaluation
Analytics
Competitor Analysis Surveys/Questionnaires
Personas
Task Analysis/Flow
Sketching
Wireframing
Mock-ups
Paper prototyping
HTML Prototyping
Card Sort
Expert Review
Heuristic Review Face-To-Face Testing
Remote testing
User Flows/Journey Map
We’ve integrated UX processes into Agile (Scrum) processes
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
User Experience: Method Cards User Experience: Method Cards
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Technique 15: Expert Review Technique 14: User Flow/Journey Map
SummaryAn expert evaluation of an existing site or application, to provide a high-level summary of usability/accessibility issues.
Resource: 1x Web Strategy Team
Time: 1/2 day
New sites/applications
Existing sites/applications
Suitable for:
SummaryA design technique used to illustrate the steps a user might take when completing a task, process or transaction.
Cost: Not applicable
Resource: 1x Web Strategy Team
Time: 1 day
New sites/applications
Existing sites/applications
Cost: Not applicable
Suitable for:
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
User Experience: Method Cards User Experience: Method Cards
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Technique 15: Expert Review
What
An expert evaluation of an existing site or application, using heuristics to guide the reviewer and identify potential usability/accessibility issues.
Why
Allows for a quick and detailed expert analysis of a site or application, requiring little time or resource. Will provide a summary of issues and recommendations.
When
Where time/budget constraints would make it difficult to conduct full user testing. Can take place at short notice, involving minimal resource and yield fairly detailed results.
Used to illustrate the typical steps of a user within a given concept/design. Each screen is mapped out in sequence in which the task or process should ideally follow.
To better understand the steps a typical user would take, to achieve a particular goal. Allows designers and stakeholders to explore the flow of a concept/design.
Used during the design phase user flows are relatively quick to pull together and can easily accommodate rapid changes.
What
Why
When
Technique 14: User Flow/Journey Map
And we’re getting to know much more about our users…
Using data to bring our users to life
In conclusion
“No matter how impassioned your approach, it’s impossible to take a company straight from UX indifference to UX maturity. The demands are too disruptive. Focus, as the undercover manifesto suggests, on big change through small victories, slowly winning the hearts and minds and convincing your team of the need for UX approaches .”
Cennydd Bowles, James Box
Thanks for listening!
Photo by brieuc_s http://www.flickr.com/photos/brieuc/4225881624/
Get in touch
Michele Ide-SmithWeb Strategy ManagerCambridgeshire County [email protected] 699710www.ide-smith.co.ukwww.twitter.com/micheleidesmith http://www.linkedin.com/in/micheleidesmith